Repurposing the National Transmission System (NTS) for hydrogen offers us an opportunity to explore the potential role of our network in providing hydrogen for a net zero transport system.

Hydrogen is expected to be used directly in combustion engines, fuel cells and in the creation of sustainable aviation fuel. In addition to these large-scale opportunities, transport is expected to be one of the early markets for hydrogen.

We’re running a project to investigate the requirement for hydrogen and hydrogen derived fuels within the UK.

This involves a review of the current projects underway within the various transport sectors, including maritime, aviation, heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), buses, rail, and construction, alongside their associated infrastructure.

Initially the project activities will be carried out as desk-based research including a comprehensive literature review. We’ll be focusing on increasing our understanding of the hydrogen landscape including:

• The current interest in hydrogen and hydrogen derived fuels
• The demand for hydrogen in individual transport sectors
• The size of the hydrogen demand and the timescales required for each individual sector

Alongside this, we’ll be carrying out future demand forecasting activities to determine the role that the NTS could play in decarbonising the UK’s transport industry. This includes creating a plan to target the most suitable innovation projects focusing on the transport theme.

We’ll also be identifying key stakeholders to create a transport sector stakeholder map, including a scoring model to shortlist the relevant stakeholders that need to be engaged.